Heat by Bill Buford

(March 2008)

Mr. Buford is a respected journalist for the New Yorker and an amateur chef. On assignment to write a piece about Mario Batali, the owner of Babbo’s restaurant in NYC, Buford asked the renowned chef if he could work in the kitchen and unearth the secrets of a three star restaurant. Buford’s work became an obsession and he spent the next three years learning the trade.


Heat is an account of high-strung chefs who have mastered the art of fine cooking and exact timing to turn out a great meal. The reader is treated to the years of education, both in-school and hands-on, that go into making a gourmet chef. Buford traveled to Italy to tutor under a well-known pasta maker and a Dante quoting butcher.


In a hilarious aside, the reader is treated to an episode where Buford carries home a whole pig and proceeds to butcher it in his New York apartment. After years of slicing his knuckles, burning his fingers, sweating over vats of sauces, and suffering under the whims of testy chefs, Buford reached his goal of becoming an insider.